Value for money. It’s a big issue in the times when your baseball team are not doing so well.
Unlike most critics, I don’t think the Yankees have got some divine right to win – no matter how much the Steinbrenners and Cashmans of this world promise it. However, I do think the Yankees have a duty to take care of their fans and treat them well.
Stadium tours. If you look at what is being charged, and what is being given, it doesn’t seem to be happening.
Over the years I have taken many opportunities to accompany parties who are undertaking tours and other events to see behind the scenes at Yankee Stadium.
It goes right back to the old Stadium when the erudite, pleasant and knowledgeable Rick Cerrone (no, not the catcher) used to accompany groups around the stadium. You would see the clubhouse and suites, and the home dugout. As long as you didn’t go on the playing surface, it seemed like everything was fair game (no pun intended). The Yankees seemed to realise that the more time they invested in you, the more you would feel invested in the team. Cerrone would tell you stories of DiMaggio, Mantle, Reggie Jackson, and Don Mattingly. You went away feeling like you knew them. He also wasn’t slow to offer negative views of those he didn’t regard as heroes. You didn’t want to get him started on Buck Showalter.
Obviously at the new Stadium, there is more potential to develop this idea. There is a museum, where you can see autographed balls by the score, and cabinets with tributes to Ruth and Gehrig, Jeter and Posada, Munson and Guidry. Something from every era, for every taste.
Out of this grew the idea of the “Hands on History” – something for the more hardcore fan, with a little more time and money to invest.
And this is what it all comes down to now. Time and money. I booked in for myself and four friends to take the tour today. Five of us touring. Followed by a lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. When you add in your Ticketmaster fees and so forth, this will cost you $333.30. Over $66 per person.
That’s the money. The time is even more concerning. The tour is rushed. The tour guide (who shall remain unnamed) bordered on the surly and unpleasant. No clubhouse visit, no home dugout (we were given a few moments in the Visitors dugout), no leisurely time to take photographs, and then rushed out of the exit – because of course, we must fit in as many tours per day as is humanly possible.
Let’s just say the customer service was better in the Hard Rock Cafe, where the food and waiting staff were more than pleasant.
Previous events I’d attended had included an opportunity to meet a Yankees’ roster member (Adam Warren and Robin Ventura spring to mind). The ultimate irony was that perhaps the highlight of the day was meeting up with Jasson Dominguez for a chat and a photo opportunity on the way out. This, however, wasn’t organised wasn’t part of the tour. Dominguez showed amazing character to spend time with the fans, given the recent news of an injury which will require surgery and put him out of the game for nearly 12 months.
So, would I recommend the current tours on offer? No. The Yankees really need to look at that value for money issue and the way that they take care of the fans. There is only so long you can milk a cashcow, to pay the salary of the Giancarlo Stantons of this world, before the cow collapses for lack of nutrition.
The Yankees must do better, and it is not only the field but off.
twilightdawning 